Your Spirit: Even a fake smile can help boost your mood

Put on a Happy Face!

Photo: Michele Constantini/GettyImages

By Cari Scribner/HealthyLife

We’ve all heard the old saw that when we smile, the world smiles with us, but apparently there’s another reason to turn that frown upside-down. Even if you use your fingers to prop up the sides of your mouth into a pseudo-smile, you’ll help banish those blues.

“When you smile, you produce the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain that floods it with a sense of happiness,” says Dr. Valerie Whitney, from The Neurology Group in Albany. “Whether it’s a fake smile or real doesn’t matter; they use the same muscle groups.”

Scientists have documented the physical release that happens when these facial muscles, along with the thin bones of the face are moved. Their findings: that we can improve our physiological and psychological states by deliberately changing our facial expressions.

“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”

— Phyllis Diller

In a recently released study by the University of Kansas, people were given stressful tasks while holding chopsticks on their mouths to form a smile. Another group of participants was asked to maintain a smile while completing the same stressful activity. (None of the subjects were told the true objective of the study). When physiological responses were compared with the third control group doing the same stressful task, both genuine and chopstick-induced smilers had lower heart rates and faster cardiovascular stress recovery than the non-smiling controls.

“The world always looks brighter behind a smile.”

— Mark Twain

What can we take away from these study results? “Fake it till you make it” might be true when it comes to smiling.

Being unable to frown — a variation on the smiling research — also affects mood. Researchers at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is compromised by cosmetic Botox injections are happier, on average, than people whose frowning is unimpeded. The researchers administered a questionnaire about anxiety and emotional state of mind to 25 women. Half were able to frown while completing the survey; half had received frown-inhibiting Botox injections. The surprising results? Botox recipients reported feeling happier and less anxious in general, which scientists speculate could be connected with their inhibited ability to scowl.

“If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.”

— Andy Rooney

Dr. Joel Goodman is executive director of The Humor Project, Inc., in Saratoga Springs, an organization that seeks to “help people get more ‘smileage’ out of their lives and jobs by applying the practical, positive power of humor and creativity.” Goodman says he suits up every morning with a smile.

“If I have a challenging day ahead, I will literally look in the mirror and smile to jumpstart the day,” Goodman says. “Just putting your face in that position will get that internal chemistry going. I’m proof of that.”

“You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.”

— Charlie Chaplin

So, the next time you are feeling stressed, have a difficult task, or just wake up on the wrong side of the bed, smile for a while and see how your mood can change for the better. Along with bringing on self-cheer, a wide grin is contagious and will benefit everyone around you.

“When someone is down and you make them respond with a smile, they’ll cheer up eventually,” Whitney says. “Just keep trying.”